The Island Life - sun, sand, sea, and giant tortoises in your backyard

Life on Curieuse is, as always, curious! We’re now in week 2 of our adventure on the island and I couldn’t enjoy it more (well, less mosquitoes and a flushing toilet would be quite ok). I’m sitting here feeling all privileged with a computer in front of me and cooling down in the wind after yet another hot day with an early morning snorkel and EFR first aid course in the afternoon. Behind me is the ocean and I can hear the waves slowly lapping the beach. Do you feel envious yet? I’m loving the island life and the island life is loving me.

Living the island life is something most people need to adjust to at first, but as soon as you’ve adapted to the primitive lifestyle, it’s more than amazing. Falling asleep to a light breeze and the calming sound of the waves splashing to the coast, waking up and putting on your bathing suit as the first thing in the morning, stepping outside in the nice, cold sand and getting ready for a delicious, healthy breakfast consisting of toasted oats with freshly chopped fruits… All of the above are things you can only dream of to come true one day! Of course, the island life isn’t all glamorous – no flushing toilets as an example, which means a daily bucket run to fill up the big water bucket next to the toilets. Living in the tropics will without a doubt make you sweaty and clammy at most times. Another thing is the mosquitoes and sand flies, which for sure will make you scratch, but after a while you and your body start getting used to that as well. For sure I’d rather be without the sweat and the mosquito bites, but when looking at all the amazing things we’re experiencing down here and how beautiful the Seychelles is – the happy and open-minded locals that gladly will help you, walking around the island and maybe stumbling across a Giant tortoise sleeping in your backyard, the feeling of waking up in such a paradise and at the same time being a part of a program that helps the environment and many threatened animals that live here – I can’t even imagine leaving it anytime soon. When the daily duties are done and there is a moment of free time, I love to sit in the hammock and either just enjoy the moment and feel blessed to be in a place like this, or read a book while the wind slowly rocks the hammock.

So dear reader, I would say see you in a couple weeks, but it turns out I’m not ready to leave this paradise and will be staying an extra month. Let’s hope by then I haven’t acquired more mosquito bites than my body can handle!